Snapdragon Inn blog

Thursday night we met and discussed Lisa See's fascinating tale set in 19th century China, "Snowflower and the Secret Fan". We spent a lot of time discussing the centuries old practice of foot binding and how incredibly pivotal that was for Chinese women. There is a lot to ruminate over from this book.

For our next move, we are heading to pre -WWII France with Suite Francaise by Irène Némirovsky. From the a NY times review:

THIS stunning book contains two narratives, one fictional and the other a fragmentary, factual account of how the fiction came into being. "Suite Française" itself consists of two novellas portraying life in France from June 4, 1940, as German forces prepare to invade Paris, through July 1, 1941, when some of Hitler's occupying troops leave France to join the assault on the Soviet Union. At the end of the volume, a series of appendices and a biographical sketch provide, among other things, information about the author of the novellas. Born in Ukraine, Irène Némirovsky had lived in France since 1919 and had established herself in her adopted country's literary community, publishing nine novels and a biography of Chekhov. She composed "Suite Française" in the village of Issy-l'Evêque, where she, her husband and two young daughters had settled after fleeing Paris. On July 13, 1942, French policemen, enforcing the German race laws, arrested Némirovsky as "a stateless person of Jewish descent." She was transported to Auschwitz, where she died in the infirmary on Aug. 17.